Article handling apparatus



Sept. 21, 1943. A

- J. D. ROMANO ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 29, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTO/P J.0. ROMANO A TTOPNEY Sept. 21, 1943. .1. D. ROMANO ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 29, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVE/ VTOP J.D. ROMA V0 v Patented Sept. 21,- 1943 2,329,787! v ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS This invention relates t article hand'ling paratus, nd more particularly to apparatus for degreasing articles; j -*iI-liere are innumerable instances in various arts= whereit is desirable to" subject articles to mea'cti'on of a liquid" agent or its vaporor both. Iir-manysuch' cases it willbe preferablein pracuse to subject a batch c'onsisting of a' consider": able plurality of the articles simultaneously to theaction of theagentyand infsuch' cases it; may well be eminently desirable to" agitate or stir the batch of"artic1'eswhilebeingytreated inorder thfatfa'll parts of" the surface" of each article in the batch'may be acted on the agent and not have parts thereof mashed against the agent by other articles inthebatch; In some-cases of suchprocedure apparatus is provided in" which a batch, oraa pluralityofbatches in sequence; carried in oneor more pervious baskets or other appropriate containers by some form of conveyormeans are" automatically subjected to'the' several steps 'of a cleansingprocess which includes a step of dipping" each such container-with its batch of articles intofatanjkor the like of-"the liquid or of its" Vapor *orboth for {af predetermined length of time and therrremoving it' therefrom. such casesit may'be desirable; in order to" stiror agrtate-thebatch orarticles; to "rotate the container while in the tank of agent; in order. to ensure sati's'f'actory actionof the-agenton all parts of the surfacecfeacn'article! Y An-object of the present invention is to provide simple; reliable,**efiective'- and durable means to rotate a container such-as described while being transportedbyconveyor means.- 1 With the above and other objects in View, the invention ma-y b'e embodied in acontainer-adapted tobe trams-portecP by conveyor means and having a pinion proj'ecti-ng therefrom, in combination witha fixed-rack toaengage 'thepini'on during its passageoven apredtatermined portion of itspath:to rotate the-same and thereby the container; and aguidejmember to effect and maintain operativeengagement'ot the pinion-with the rack', the guide memberbeing. mounted 'to have resiliently yielding freedom of motion with respect tovtl'ie rack tb -ensure operative engagement of the pinion with the rack without jam- Other objects and features of the invention will appear from the following detailed descrip-' tion of one embodiment thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which the same reference numerals are applied to identical parts in the several figures and in which by-meansaofipaired-sprocketsza;onepair-ofi which I 2 -1 of Flg. 1";

- Fi'gi'l diagrammatic"lengittidinalsectibnal view of arrapparatus constaucted in accordance" with theihvention g a I I Fig: 2 i's aseetienal viewf thereef on the line 1 Fig-2 B 'is ameflaTrged brokew detail view'or the containerrotating means i'n'='side elevation;

Fig! 4 is a par-tin? ena vitw of the showing of Fig. 2; and

Fig: 5 fartner emargd detail view-"0t the- The invention as herein-illustrated is embodl'ed in arr apparatus for degiea'si'ng small metal -anti oles-by treatin'g them with; eithen orbbtii tile -liq;- uid and vapor: phases" of. some suitable solvent such: as benzene; carbem tetrach'l'bride; trfchlbr ethylene, or tlie liketFoi' simplicity tile atti'eles tn} be treated-may be: theught of: as: aural, fiat punching's of sheet meta-l;- greasyinmrrrv various causes and so tending strongly tovstitkrwgetner fiattv-ise; Y t

- 'A batchx of the. partsl-tolbetreatedlis placed in-a generally-cylindrical. andinormaliirrconiplete ly clos'e'd container. 241' supportew tor be rotatable about: its axis: im a cradle: rub means: of stub shafts Z2: se'curerbto arid; extending: mitwandly from: the; containen endn and; jnumalled at; an in the endiwallsr of thelcradle. 'llhwcylindnicarwallof the container is? wiser me'slr. onrmmtipermrate sheet m'etal'ior othenwisemadeitoadm it'tnmtreats in; fluid or: vapor: may; to." the: interinrof. the

containers: 0m eachtshafv 22: is: rigidly;' mounted a: piniom 24 spaced; as" short 2 distance: outwardly from the journal 23, and. omthesouter emf: ofi the shaft is; a cam: rollers 25;.h'ere showm as an integ ral'- part" of: the? shaft,- bute which: may' also vbe rotatable on the shaftzif: desiredl Principal. pur; pose! ot the? cradle isstir support: thei container when: not im'active use'asz hereinatter described. h A; chain type? conveyor, generally; indicated: at Zfificomprise'ss two parallel: chains' M which: are guided together as? shownfln': Figs; 1- and Z' over a: more or less tortuous path-within adiousingr 28 may be driven: a motor some driveithe chainsa The: chains! 2% are spaced: a somewhat; greater distance apart: than: the length on the shaft 22;, and carryat suitable-intervals paired hook mem;

. ofburning out motor windings.

a discharge platform or conveyor 33 and there disengaged from the hooks.

In illustrating the present invention the details of the apparatus, beyond what has been generally indicated above and what is particularized below, are irrelevant and so are not further described. For present purposes the point of importance is that at one point of the path of the chains, the chains are carried under a sprocket pair 34 and thus caused to dip the container down into and bring it up again out of an open topped tank 35 in which is a body of the degreasing liquid or vapor or both. i 7

Above the tank 35 and below the sprockets 34 is positioned a pair of rigidly supported racks 36 each positioned and oriented to engage one of the pinions 2 3 shortly after the container 26 moves down into the tank. Each rack then follows the path of the pinion at first along an asymptotic straight line and then along a concentric arc. The pinion is engaged by the rack and dragged along overit, the hooks 3| being pivotable on their attachments to the chain to permit of this The pinion rolls on the rack and thus drives the shaft agent inthe tank and also for some time after the container emerges therefrom.

- To enforce operative engagement of the pinion with the rack, a guide rail 31 is .mounted above and parallel to each rack but outside the same to be engaged by the upper side of the cam roller 25 on that end of the shaft 22. Generally, the guide rail is of the same shape and is equidistant at all points from the corresponding rack. The entrance end (righthand end'in Figs. 1, 3 and 5) is, however, curved upwardly to afford easy entrance between the guide and rack for the pinion and cam roller.

Were the guide rails 31 supported rigidly in position the arrangement would operate as designed and desired a large percentage of the time. There would, however, be occasions when al pinion would engage the corresponding rack with-the tip of one of the teeth of the pinion meeting and being pressed against one of the bars ofthe rack at just the angle at which the stress exerted is radial to the pinion. There is then no force operative to rotate the pinion and the apparatus locks, the motor stalls, and there is danger Power has to be cut oif, the housing opened and entered and the accidental locking released.

. To obviatethis difficulty the guide 31 is mounted to be able to yield resiliently away from the rack, particularly at the entrance. As here disclosed, this is accomplished by pivoting the exit end of the guide on a fixedly supported pin 38, while the entrance end of the guide is formed with a slot 39 generally radialto'the pinion when the latter is just about to engage the rack. A fixedly supported pin 48 passing through slot and normally engaged against the guide at the top of the slot supports the guide in its normal position, but leaves the entrance end of the guide free to move up, if the pinion jams, against the resilient resistance of a spring 4| to release the pinion.

The arrangement as described appears to work flawlessly for its purpose, at least so long as the containers are far enough apart on the chains so that there are never two sets of pinions between the racks and guides at one time. Should there be a possibility of there being a pinion pair and cam roller pair still in engagement just to the left of the pins 38 (Fig. 3) at the moment when a following pinion jams at the entrance,the exit end of the guide 31 instead of being'pivoted on the pin 38 may be supported thereon in the same fashion that the entrance end is supported on the pin 40. I

The embodiment herein disclosed is illustrative and may be modified and departed from variously without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited solely by the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

i. In an apparatus for handling articles and having conveyor means and a container for articles and pivotable carrier means toattach the container to the conveyor means to be carried along by the conveyor whilemaking the container free to swing transversely toward and from the conveyor means, a shaft on the container and mounted in the carrier means to make the container rotatable in the carrier means, a pinion on the shaft to rotate the container, a coaxial disk on the shaft, a rack of less length than the path of the pinion and fixedly'positioned beside the path of the pinion to be engaged by. the pinion and thereby effect rotation of the container during a portion only of the travel of the container, and a resiliently yieldable guide rail mounted beside the rack to engage the disk and thereby urge the pinion against the rack when coming into engagement therewith to ensure proper meshing engagement of the teeth oflthe pinion into the intertooth spaces of the rack and avoid jams occasioned by direct abutment of a tooth of the pinion against a tooth of the rack.

2. In an apparatus for handling articles and having conveyor means and a container for articles and pivotable carrier means to attach the container to the conveyor means to be carried along by the conveyor while makingthe container free to swing transversely toward and from the conveyor means, a shafton the container and mounted in the carrier means to-make the con tainer rotatable in the carrier means, a pinion on the shaft to rotate the container; a coaxial disk on the shaft; a rack of less length than the path of the pinion and fixedly positioned beside the path of the pinion to be engaged by the pinion and thereby effect rotation ofthe container during a portion only of the travel of the container, and a resiliently yieldable guide rail pivotably mounted beside the rack to engage the disk and thereby urge the pinion against the rack when coming into engagement therewith to ensure proper meshing engagement, of the teeth of the pinion into the intertoothspaces of the rack and avoid jams occasioned by'direct' abutment of a tooth of the pinion against a tooth of the rack.

JoHN n. ROMANO. 

